Sennheiser PX200 Collapsible High-Performance Closed Headphones (Black)

The sound of the PX 200, on the other hand, is strong, vibrant, crystal clear, and encompasses a more full tonal range. To put them to the test I first listened to Van Halen's "Atomic Punk" -- the sonic power of Eddie's guitar was fully displayed but the bass was diminished. But I don't miss the heavy bass on these portable headphones...the sound actually seems more clear and authentic without it.

Previously I was using the Koss KTX-PRO but despite the good sound relative to their cheap price, they're cheaply made and the wires have come loose a more than one pair -- rendering them useless. The Sennheisers, on the other hand, are of superior quality. They obviously put some design effort into these and it clearly shows: the head band is metal, not cheap plastic so it has a good "grip," the padding is not cheapo foam but instead a thin padded vinyl material, and they fold up small and come with a handy plastic storage case.

Very comfortable to wear continuously for, well, hours (lots of tunes on my iPod!). Highly recommended headphones.

5/08/2003 - Update: I mentioned above about the weak bass of these headphones. I read somewhere that Sennheinsers may need time to "break in," whatever that means. Well, to my surprise the bass has since become more apparent...much stronger now than when fresh out of the box. Either that or I'm blowing a hole in my eardrum from iPod overuse. These are absolutely the most comfortable portable headphones I've ever owned. The PX-200's have it all...what a great buy!


Sennheiser Px 200   April 29, 2003
Lee Millar (Las Vegas, Nevada)
39 out of 39 found this review helpful

I truly wanted some pretty decent portable headphones for my MP3 player. Most headphones that come with music players are a joke, so it was back into the piggy bank again to find something worthy to listen to my collection. Before buying the Px 200's, I was using a pair of Koss KSC-55 behind the ear headphones. Lots of bass, pretty reasonable for the price, but they developed a small crackle with lower quality music, so going to a forum ... gave me some insight into what the veterans of music recommend for portable headphones.

To be honest, my first impressions were of disappointment after receiving them. No bass, kind of tinny and only a small amount better at driving my mp3 player than the Koss headphones. I don't know how much scientific truth comes with breaking in a pair of headphones, but letting these run for a few hours has already loosened them up to the point that my initial 'I'm going to send these things back' has changed to 'wow, let me give this break in thing a chance'. The Sennheisers are better balanced at sound than the Koss 55's. The Koss's are bass heavy, but lack midrange but are still commendable for the price. The sennheisers are very stylish and very comfortable to wear. They require good positioning to get the correct bass and sound out of them, but to me it's not difficult to do and once they are on, they stay on. Price through [Amazon.com] ... is reasonable considering they aren't easy to get in retail stores and seem to be backordered online. I'm not super experienced with headphones and with so many options out there I came to the conclusion I wanted to keep the price [down] didn't want in the ear headphones, didn't want phones that made me look like I was a DJ in the making, so narrowing that down, the Sennheiser Px200's are off to a good start. I'm hoping for even more sound off them when they are truly broken in ( that is if there is such a thing, or it could be just a tiny bit psychological ). I've only used them for a couple of hours, so it's time to shut down the computer and get back to the music. Thanks for listening...


Ordinary Sound, High Priced, Better Value elsewhere   August 10, 2004
C. Kelleher (new york, ny United States)
30 out of 30 found this review helpful

These are ordinary Sennheisers, which means way better than the usual junk by Sony, Aiwa, etc or worse yet Coby and Maxell. Midrange is strongest, with trebles being muted. These sound fine with pop, a little bit worse with jazz, and pretty unimpressive with classical.

The black mark here is the odd concept of a small closed headphone design. The smallish cups will not cover all or even most of a normal ear, so the noise isolation is minimal, and the bass is far thinner than might be expected. These phones do fold up into a tiny bundle, but that is not such a big selling point especially given the price.

Impedance is 32 Ohms, so these do work fine with an Ipod, and sound much better than the standard Apple buds. I would recommend the PX 100 much more highly though; similar design, cheaper, and the open backs give the sound a much more vibrant effect even bass, which is unexpected. The open design of the PX 100s though makes it easier to hear outside noise (and for those outside to hear your noise!) so if you need a closed headphone design, try the Sennhesier HD 202s, a larger design though one that sounds very good and delivers acceptable isolation, and one which is also cheaper than either PX model. (You are paying for portability I suppose!)